1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates, generally, to safety devices for weapons such as pistols. More particularly, it relates to devices that prevent a child from pulling the trigger of a weapon.
2. Description of the prior art
Weapons usually include a safety device intended to prevent accidental discharge, but accidental discharges of weapons still take many lives per year. Many fatalities occur because a weapon owner often forgets to set the safety, and many more occur because the safety is so easily removed from its operable position. Thus, a child playing with a weapon may first accidentally disable the safety, rendering the weapon ready to fire, and may then accidentally discharge the weapon.
Thus, there is a need for a life-saving device that prevents a toddler or a child (as well as an adult) from accidentally discharging a weapon. The device should be removable by an adult who knows how to remove it, but should be virtually impossible for a child to remove.
However, in view of the art at the time the present invention was made, it was not obvious to those of ordinary skill how such a device could be provided.